My new Saw

[Chuck Isaacson]

Here it is. The worlds only wheelchair accessible table saw. I got it about a month or two ago. It is a 3HP full cabinet saw made by General. It is part of the Access line of tool made for people in wheelchairs. It is a little more saw than I needed, but I could afford it and I think that I will be safer using something that is at my level. Unfortunately I dont have a place to use it yet. It is 220v and I just broke ground on the new shop. I just built the table extension the other day. It is made from 3/4"x3" poplar for the frame and a sheet of 3/4" MDF laminated on both sides to keep it from absorbing moisture. I secured it to the frame with some brass threaded inserts that I epoxied into the top. Not too bad of a job for a rookie. It gave me a chance to play with my new router bit set that I got from MLCS and my new Craftsman 2 1/4HP Router. It is the one that comes with all three bases, the plunge, fixed, and D-handle. It is pretty sweet!! Let me know what you think. Thanks

Chuck

[Dan T Jones]

That does look good. It seems that General is really a good saw.

[Augusto Orosco]

It looks great, Chuck! If you forgive my ignorance, could you elaborate on what features/dimension changes makes it accessible?

Also, is that Craftman combo the one that looks very similar to the Dewalt? What made you chose one over the other? (I believe they are priced very similarly)

[Chuck Isaacson]

It looks great, Chuck! If you forgive my ignorance, could you elaborate on what features/dimension changes makes it accessible?

Also, is that Craftman combo the one that looks very similar to the Dewalt? What made you chose one over the other? (I believe they are priced very similarly)

The biggest and I think only thing that makes this an accessible saw is the table height. It has been cut down from its normal of 34" to 29". With the Shop Fox base it is at about 30" or so. You would be amazed at what 4" does. It just feels a lot better. Like I said I have not used it yet, but I have used my father-in-laws and that is way high at about 37 or so and I just dont feel like I am in complete control.

As for the router, I have always kind of like the Craftsman hand tools, so I thought that I would give the power tools a try. I went with it also because of the price. I got this one, with all three bases, 2 1/4HP for about $200. I thought that for my first router it was about the right price. I will eventually get another when I build a router table and what not. I just thought that it was a good deal.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Congrats on the new saw Chuck. It looks great as well as your extension table. Now get a blade guard on that baby and let'r rip.

[Joe Jensen]

The biggest and I think only thing that makes this an accessible saw is the table height. It has been cut down from its normal of 34" to 29". With the Shop Fox base it is at about 30" or so. You would be amazed at what 4" does. It just feels a lot better. Like I said I have not used it yet, but I have used my father-in-laws and that is way high at about 37 or so and I just dont feel like I am in complete control.

As for the router, I have always kind of like the Craftsman hand tools, so I thought that I would give the power tools a try. I went with it also because of the price. I got this one, with all three bases, 2 1/4HP for about $200. I thought that for my first router it was about the right price. I will eventually get another when I build a router table and what not. I just thought that it was a good deal.

Wow, that is very cool. I couldnt' see the difference in the pics other than proportionally it looks like a 14" saw. General makes great heavy tools, a lifetime purchase for sure.

I have been trying to visualize using my saw from a chair and it seems scary. I can see how 4" would make a huge difference. congrats...joe

[Peter Quinn]

General makes a great saw and I think its fantastic that they offer the access line to accommodate the needs of wood workers in wheel chairs. I feel scarcely able to operate the TS standing on my feet and have a hard time envisioning using one from a wheel chair. You must have great strength and will to overcome that obstacle. I wonder do they offer other tool types with a similar access feature, such as the BS?

[Chuck Isaacson]

General makes a great saw and I think its fantastic that they offer the access line to accommodate the needs of wood workers in wheel chairs. I feel scarcely able to operate the TS standing on my feet and have a hard time envisioning using one from a wheel chair. You must have great strength and will to overcome that obstacle. I wonder do they offer other tool types with a similar access feature, such as the BS?

They actually offer a full line of tools that include a band saw, jointer, lathe, drill press, plus the 10" table saw that I have. You can check them out here:

http://www.general.ca/Access/pagemach/ang/welcome.htm

The only problem with them is that they are VERY expensive. My saw was about $2800. The jointer and band saw are both about $3600!!! Time will tell if I get one of those or if I get something else and just modify it a little. I really want the bandsaw!! It has a table height of about 33". But I think that amount of money is a little crazy for a 15" saw. Time will tell.

[Barry Vabeach]

Chuck, not to be insensitive, but when I saw your first post asking about saws for people in wheelchairs, I wondered about the feasibility of putting in a false floor around the machines to raise you about 6 inches - I was thinking of 2 x sleepers with the flooring over that, and if you put in some hatches, you could run your dust collection and power below the false floor. Don't know how that would compare to the price premium on the machines - or how you could lay out the machines so that you would have just one raised area with a ramp for access - like in a factory.

[Rick Fisher]

Great looking saw.. The General Canadian Made equipment is really nice stuff.

The access line is pricey, but its domestic. Made in Quebec. General Canadian made has never had a reputation for being cheap :)

The 15" Bandsaw is $3300 for the non-access as well.. so its priced similar to the regular domestic machine.

I have been looking for a 12" jointer for over a year. The General Canadian 12" is $14,500.00 ... Used, 30 years old, they are $7500.00 I wonder what they sold for new, 30 years ago ???

Congrats on the saw. Its a beauty..

[Bruce Page]

Congrats Chuck. That's a sweet looking TS.

[Jerome Hanby]

I'm sure the end result would not match the quality of General's line, but I'd think that bench top bandsaws and jointers might make good choices. Just build low stands for them to sit on. That might be also be practical for "standard" bandsaws and jointers, aren't their stands mostly empty space? I wouldn't be crazy about buying a new machine and hacking on it, but a used model might be worth an experiment. Think I even saw an 8" jointer without a stand on the Atlanta Craigslist the other day...

[Stephen Edwards]

I'm sure the end result would not match the quality of General's line, but I'd think that bench top bandsaws and jointers might make good choices. Just build low stands for them to sit on. That might be also be practical for "standard" bandsaws and jointers, aren't their stands mostly empty space? I wouldn't be crazy about buying a new machine and hacking on it, but a used model might be worth an experiment. Think I even saw an 8" jointer without a stand on the Atlanta Craigslist the other day...

My thoughts exactly on the Band Saw and even the Jointer! I see no reason why a person couldn't simply modify the stands for those machines, or build your own stands, to make them wheelchair accessible.

I'd be willing to be that there are some very handy folks here at the Creek that would be able to offer some good design suggestions for shop built machine stands, should you decide to go that route.

Great looking saw you got there, Chuck! Congratulations and happy woodworking!

Best Regards,

[Neal Clayton]

this got me thinking, regardless of accessibility, what is the reason for table saw height being commonly what it is?

now that i think about it, it would be a helluva lot easier for me to handle boards on my PM66 if it were about 4-5 inches lower, and i'm 6 feet tall.

[Joel Earl]

General is not an inexpensive line but they are a dream to own.
Nice Chuck - real sweet saw. What model is it? Maybe I missed it above?

I have a General 650 now and it set me back a bit too but I smile every time I hit the switch and want to scream YEA. I'm still like a kid in a candy store with it.

Enjoy that sweetheart Chuck - she'll treat you mighty nice forever.